Chapter 4

4

“Be brave.” It’d be worth the reward.

Synergy had scientists in long white jackets. If they roamed the halls, it meant somewhere inside, there must be those places. The thought of getting closer than necessary made my hands slick with sweat. I wanted to bump into Dustin at the guard station. To my dismay, I spotted that scrumptious backside vanish inside one of Synergy’s offices. I wanted to say thank you for the incident with Sampson. I’d set aside my fears if it meant seeing that big, burly man again.

“Be brave, Wyatt.” A mantra I rarely followed.

Dustin’s laughter kept me from hurling myself from a nearby window. The frosted doors leading into Synergy’s second-floor offices were only inches away, and the fear tightened my chest. I could do this. I could. I could—I swung the door open.

“Don’t kill me,” I cried.

“Did she send you?” There are things scarier than death.

The lobby of this floor wasn’t much different from our own. The walls were a similar light gray with dark wood floors. They even had a reception area like ours. The desk, however, lacked a collection of troll dolls, nor did it have a burly woman with a sense of humor I never understood.

I would have preferred Janet. Instead, Synergy had a petite brown-haired woman in a business suit. Leaning over the counter, her blood-red nails scraped against the surface. My fear of men in white jackets vanished. I assumed in the bowels of Synergy, they created this vicious human-like creature.

“She?” I stammered.

“ Her .” The woman’s eyes narrowed.

“Who her?”

“The tramp.” With a quick turn of the head, her hair flowed down her shoulders. I’d call her beautiful if it weren’t for the snarl showing off flawless white teeth.

“The what?”

“Vixen!”

I stopped responding. Unless she explained herself, I’d be attacked and never know the reason. I inched backward, ready to reach for the door and flee. If I couldn’t fly away or bust a hole in the building's side, I’d jump from the second-floor balcony. Whatever it took to get away from the hissing woman.

“Janet.” Oh. Our administrative assistant had that effect on people. I should have guessed. Something similar happened when she accompanied me to the pretzel cart on the street. Janet had more enemies than any superhero.

“Did she send you?”

I shook my head.

She thrust her finger forward. “I don’t believe you.”

Flinching, I readied for lasers to fly out of her hands. “I came in to see someone. Promise.” Thin and wiry, if she punched me, I’d barely feel it. The way she glared, the knowing grin, it wasn’t knuckles to the jaw that scared me. There was more to this woman than the average secretary. Had she and her co-workers developed powers capable of dealing a fatal blow?

“When you go crawling back, tell that pathetic excuse for an assistant I’ll destroy her.”

The hatred rolled off her in waves. Almost thick enough, I could taste the mix of salt and copper. I should have kept my mouth shut, but I couldn’t resist. I needed to know what Janet had done to warrant an arch-nemesis.

“What did she?—”

“Fish.”

I refrained from giggling at the thought of Janet in a fish costume. Though, I wasn’t sure how that equated to a rivalry ending in bloodshed.

“You really are an idiot?” Mean and unnecessary. With that realization, she sat down behind her desk. My lack of understanding somehow nullified her desire to destroy me.

“Before the renovation, she snuck in and used our microwave for her leftover fish.”

“We banned her from bringing fish?—”

“It didn’t stop her.” She sat back in her chair. “Tell her Tia will have her revenge.” She typed away at her computer. I didn’t know if I should use the opportunity to flee. I wanted to see Dustin, but incurring her wrath didn’t seem like a good idea.

She smiled. Scarier than her snarl. “Did you say you were looking for somebody?”

“Uh,” I paused as I reconsidered jumping from the balcony. I couldn’t muster the strength to say Dustin’s name.

Zaster burst through glass double doors.

“Here to see me?” No. Not at all.

The scientist had taken off his jacket, and if I didn’t know better, he’d be an average person on the street. The blue button-down shirt highlighted his eyes, and his tie had cartoon characters on it.

I didn’t want to lie, but I didn’t want to be rude. Now that she couldn’t throw accusations, Tia had moved on, already speaking on the phone, her back turned to us. I almost wish she jumped into the conversation, so I didn’t trip over my words.

“How are you doing?”

I held out my hand like Earth Mom had taught me. Zaster didn’t reciprocate, which took an already awkward situation and made it worse. I had spent my session with Kiki talking about Dustin, but perhaps next time, I’d talk about how I always seemed to approach this man wrong. It was like he didn’t follow normal human rules.

“If we keep bumping into each other like this, people are going to talk.”

Weren’t they already talking? I eyed Tia, who was arguing with somebody on the phone. Did we not want people to talk?

“We wouldn’t want that,” I said. “How’s your day going?” Casual conversation. Kiki wanted me to practice small talk with people. She promised it’d build my confidence. If she only knew how much my confidence wavered.

“I’m nearing a breakthrough that will revolutionize mankind.” His eyes lit up when he talked about his work. “These assholes have ignored my work for too long. I’ll show them. Then they’ll regret turning up their noses at me. I’ll be published in every scientific journal.”

If he cackled, I’d list him as a supervillain in the HeroApp?. “What are you working on?”

He stepped close enough I could smell the alcohol in his cologne. With each step toward me, I backed up until he had me pinned against the door. Zaster continued looking me up and down as if I were a tiny creature he could pounce.

“Want to discuss it…” We were chest-to-chest. “Over drinks?”

“I like to drink.” The words slipped out before I untangled what he meant. Drew and Orion invited me out for drinks all the time. We’d find a quiet spot in a bar and talk about our adventures in Vanguard. Did Zaster want to share his?

His face scrunched as he leaned forward. Zaster’s eyes fixated somewhere below my eyes. His breath hit my cheek, leaving it damp. I was about to take a step back and out the door when his hand shot toward my face. When he stepped back, he was holding a thin, wiry hair. Had he plucked it from my beard?

“You had a hair out of place.”

Beard care mattered. Had the conditioner, moisturizer, oil, and shaping cream not done their job? Self-conscious, I wrapped my fingers around my beard, smoothing any remaining runaway hairs.

“Who knows where drinks might take us?”

Home. It’d take me home. Alone.

His eyes changed focus, intent on the hair held between his fingers. Zaster ranked high in the oddest human category. I’d place him at the top, but then again, I had a naked mime outside my apartment building.

“I look forward to it.” My smile showed more teeth than necessary. I turned about and pushed at the door, sliding out of the office. I had faced my fears, and where did it get me? Threatened by a vengeful woman and a meetup with a man who made my skin crawl.All that, and not even a quick hello with Dustin.

I wandered back to work, wanting to forget I tried being brave.

“Show me the money!”

Drew’s victory cry echoed throughout the hallways of Secret Identities. I snickered at the thought of Arthur shaking his head. Without a doubt, if I walked down the hall to Drew’s office, he’d be dancing. I enjoyed his ability to take small wins and turn them into noteworthy triumphs.

“Who da man?” Janet knew it’d drive Arthur crazy.

“I’m da man!”

After our first day of work, I asked Earth Mom if co-workers could be friends. Humans had a strange habit of setting boundaries around their environments. She liked to remind me, “Friends are the family we choose.” The thought left me chewing my lower lip.

I considered Secret Identities Incorporated family… and Earth Mom.

A white rectangle shimmered to life above my desk. On the semi-transparent screen, Janet fixed her hair, pushing back a rogue curl. When it fell across her forehead again, she growled. Had she accidentally dialed my office? Despite the new technology, she refused to read an instruction manual or ask for help. At least this time, she wasn’t giving ‘the girls’ extra perk.

“Somebody is here wanting to talk with you.” Had a hero come in? She leaned closer to the screen, holding her hand up as if she were about to whisper. “And he’s a beefcake I wouldn’t mind?—”

“Send him in!” She pouted. I couldn’t have her getting into a sexual harassment suit with one of our heroes. Janet didn’t make any move to turn off the screen. “Janet, I’m turning off the camera.”

“Next time, I want to watch.”

I clicked the X in the corner, and Janet vanished. Now, I had a clear view of Dustin leaning against the doorframe of my office. The black uniform hid the curves of his belly but not the thickness of his tree trunk legs. His arms folded across his chest, showing off the muscles in his biceps. While I wanted to admire him, it was the smirk on his face that made my pulse race.

“Don’t worry, there’s no mouse this time.”

An army of furry hell beasts could storm my office, and I’d still fixate on the way his lips pursed and pulled to one side. I wanted to ask about his beard and see if he had any tips to keep it from growing like a bush. It’d be an excuse to touch the hairs on his chin and?—

“What— Do you—” I stuttered as I spoke. “Hi.”

“Hi.” He gave a slight wave. The grin never faded. “I’m doing my rounds and thought I’d stop by.”

My desk had stacks of folders with hero profiles needing to be filed. Orion had a pep talk with the printer to bring her out of her depression. Now, we were all trying to get caught up on paperwork. I pushed the files to the side and gestured to a chair on the other side of the desk.

He wandered toward the desk before taking a detour to a bookshelf on the side of the room. With arms still across his chest, he leaned down to the single photograph on the bottom. I would have talked about my Earth Mom, but I couldn’t help but watch his backside protrude as he bent over.

“Is this your mum?”

“Ear— Mom,” I said. “She’s the one who found— adopted me.” I leaned back in my chair, soaking in this dashing bear of a man. I imagined wrapping my arms around his chest and molding to his body. Drew called it spooning, though Janet commented it always leads to forking. Dustin made me salivate, but I didn’t want to devour him… I think.

“Are you two close?” He lifted the picture, standing upright as he studied it. “I mean now.”

I nodded. “I talk to her every night. I tell her about the heroes I’ve met, and she tells me about her garden. She grows the bestest tomatoes. This year, she started a Coneflowers garden. I want to watch the dragonflies with her.”

Dustin eyed me before returning the picture to the shelf. “Dragonflies, huh?”

My smile showed teeth. “They’re pretty little creatures.” When I first stepped out of my stasis pod, I fell into a field filled with the tiny insects. I thought they were the species I had been sent to protect. Earth mom still joked about it.

Dustin flipped through the books on the second shelf, all sociology books and self-help manuals given to me by Kiki. I read the ones with pictures. The rest were there as a reminder of which planet I called home. Arthur approved the items in our offices, making sure nothing jeopardized our identities. Apparently, hanging my super suit on the coat rack was a dead giveaway. Now, I stashed it in my bottom drawer.

“What about you? What’s your thing?”

Had he discovered my identity? Did I shout we had an omega alert and hope Janet wrestled him to the floor before he announced my alter ego? My head bobbed back and forth as I stalled for time.

“I don’t see any hobbies.” Oh, hobbies. Laboring for pleasure. “You strike me as a…” He moved around my desk, taking the chair. He leaned back, rubbing his chin as he read me. “Video games?”

I shook my head. “Mom didn’t have a television.”

“Gym?”

I held up my arm, flexing so my biceps strained the material of my shirt. “This is just how I’m built.” Dustin flexed his arm and poked at his biceps.

“Consider me jealous.”

“You have good arms for a hu— guard.”

“I’m failing pretty bad at this.” Dustin had done anything but fail. If it kept him in my office talking, I’d drag out the conversation. “Any hints?”

“Does knitting count?”

“Like, with yarn?”

What else would I knit with? “It keeps my hands busy while I’m watching television. I make mittens. Want to see?”

I didn’t wait for an answer as I dove into my bottom drawer. Sitting on top of my suit, I had almost finished my newest project. I held up the multicolored yarn with needles sticking out. I couldn’t hide my excitement. Dustin reached out, taking the half-finished mitten as I quickly kicked the drawer shut.

“These are a little small for those paws.” It took a moment before I realized he meant my hands. Hands. Humans had hands, not paws.

“I’m making them for the kids at the orphanage.”

Dustin’s eyes jumped between me and the mitten. I hadn’t stayed in an orphanage when I arrived on Earth. I still related to the kids who didn’t have anybody to call mother or father. Growing up in the forest, I always asked Earth Mom if I could adopt a human. She’d smile with that laugh that sounded like the clock chimes. She claimed I was all the orphan she could handle.

“You make them for kids?”

“Yeah. Is that bad? I have almost fifty pairs to send.”

He shook his head as she handed it back. “No, not bad at all. You’re a regular superhero.” I froze at the mention of the S-word. “Not all heroes wear capes.” He ended it with a wink. My alter ego remained a secret.

“Would you make me a pair? It’s going to get cold when winter comes.”

The thought of him patrolling the building while wearing my mittens made the butterflies take flight. In his black security uniform, he’d need something to stand out. Pink? No. Bright blue. He struck me as somebody who loved the color blue.

“I need to measure your hand.”

I reached into my desk and pulled out a paper and pencil. I slid the sheet under his hand. He clenched his fingers together, thumb proudly sticking out. I braced my hand on his, enjoying the warmth of his skin. I dragged a line around his hand.

“It’s like making a Thanksgiving turkey.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“You didn’t make hand turkeys in grade school?”

Mom had formulated a backstory for those awkward moments I couldn’t remember. “I was homeschooled. No turkeys for me.” Not that I knew what he meant. I wondered if Halo had birds they treated as pets before devouring for a holiday meal? Every time I tried to recall life before the spaceship, the details turned fuzzy. I couldn’t tell what memories were real and which I conjured out of desperation.

Dustin took the pencil from my hand, lingering as we touched. We were close to holding hands, like in the movies. “I’m not an artist, so don’t get your hopes up.” He flipped the paper over.

The security guard thrust his hand onto the paper with fingers spread wide. Tracing it with a pencil, I watched as his tongue hung from the corner of his mouth. Once he was done tracing, he added a face and drew stick figure legs. Spinning it around, he slid the paper in front of me.

“A turkey!”

“From what planet?”

“Earth.”

“Earth turkeys don’t have fingers coming from their backs.”

“They’re feathers.”

“If this is what school taught you…”

“You’re not going to hang it on your wall?”

“For you…” I let the sentence hang in the air. I couldn’t dismiss the enthusiasm on his face. “Do you want to go to the candy store?”

“Candy store?”

“It’s this place filled with sugary treats. I want to try them all. Fudgy bars might be my favorite, but I…” I trailed off, realizing I had just asked this beautiful security guard out . I wanted to run screaming to Kiki and let her know I had completed the homework assignment. Yet, at the same time, why were my shoulders tensing and my heart racing?

“That’d be fun.” He hopped to his feet, digging into his breast pocket, and pulled a white rectangle out. He slid it across the desk. Dustin Stark, Security Specialist. “The proverbial kid in a candy store.”

“I guess that makes me a big kid?”

Dustin didn’t answer. Instead, he gestured up and down my body. “I mean, yeah. But a handsome big kid.”

He thrust his hands in his pockets and wandered toward the door. I had wanted to hug him before, and now I wanted to tackle him… a lot. Naked.

“Text me, and we’ll set up a date.”

He headed down the hallway, and I picked up the hand turkey. I jumped up and down in a circle. Who had a magnet? This crazy-looking turkey was going on the fridge. I couldn’t wait to talk with Kiki. She’d be thrilled to know her advice paid off.

I had a date.

I had a date.

I had a date.

Now… to learn how dates worked.

I started another round of bouncing up and down. The huskular security guard and I were going to get candy. That was worth a victory cry.

“Who da man?” I shouted.

There was a long pause. Had they not heard?—

“The fax machine says, you da man,” Orion shouted back.

Yes. Yes, I was.